How can I find an air conditioner that will also dehumidify?

I'm looking for an air conditioning unit that will cool and dehumidify a small bedroom (~ 10'x10') mainly for sleeping at night.

Last year I purchased a portable AC (Whynter ARC-12S, 12000 BTU) that effectively cools any room I place it in but also increases the relative humidity throughout the apartment. I thought that the unit was oversized for the bedroom, but even when I moved it to the much larger living area (always leaving all doors open and with ceiling fans on to circulate the air), the relative humidity keeps climbing as the compressor runs. For example, after running the compressor for 2 hours, the indoor temperature went from 88 degrees to 83, but the relative humidity rose from 40% to about 60% (I did check the accuracy of my hygrometers, so that isn't the issue). I live in south-central Wisconsin, where homes are equipped to deal with harsh winters and thus keep warm air in, which is less than ideal for summer. I've learned to live with the high heat indoors for the sake of keeping the humidity low, but once the temperature gets above 85, it's uncomfortable regardless.

I'm thinking about buying another smaller unit to keep in the bedroom, but before buying one I need to make sure it will adequately dehumidify the apartment, unlike my current portable AC. Any advice is much appreciated!

In terms of a portable unit being coupled as a dehumidifier, we do carry several models that do both functions.

Shown below are several that will be more than enough for adequating cooling your approx. 100 square feet room.

The lowest available BTU model we sell is 8,000, which covers a 250 square foot area. Anything of this size or larger will work for doing both functions that you require. Some are in-stock and all are available online.

I hope this information has assisted you, and let us know if you have any further questions.

Any ideas as to why the Whynter AC increases the indoor relative humidity? Should the compressor start removing moisture from the air if I let it run for longer than 2 hours (i.e. was I shutting it off too quickly)? I still find it strange that the humidity increases so much even when the compressor runs constantly for several hours.

I only ask about my current AC because I'm worried that I'll purchase another portable unit that will have the same problem with increasing the indoor humidity.

I honestly have no clue as to why exactly your Whynter AC increases humidity; mainly because I've never sold it my stores here in Atlanta.

Any air conditioning units will give off moisture to the area they are cooling, due to the freon. However, if you use the portable units WITH a dehumidifier as linked in my original response, you will get drastically less moisture than what you have now.

I would opt for purchasing one of the units I linked above for you, and then trying it out in your home. Due to many factors like climate, you really can't tell how effective it will work until you actually use it.

You have within 90 days of purchase to return it, if it was bought online or in the store. It would be easier for you to return it to your nearest store, but honestly, I think that any portable AC we carry with a dehumidifer will work fine for your situation.

Thank you for the suggestions. It sounds from the reviews that these units will adequately dehumidify, unlike the AC that I have now.

I do have one more question if you don't mind. The bedroom windows are sized such that a window unit should be able to be installed, which might be a better fit since they can go down to 5000 BTU. Other tenants in my apartment building either have window units only or a combination of a window and a portable unit. Do you think a window AC might be a better option, since the heating elements and excess water drainage are all kept outside, or is it less common to find a window unit with a dehumidifier built in? Again, thanks for all your help!

While you can place a lower BTU size window unit inside the frame, I really think it would be better to buy a unit that will guarantee you to take humidity out of the air. I think you'd be getting an even trade with what you have now if you decided to do this.

While the water drainage would go outside, you'd still have moisture coming coming through. Unless you can find a window unit with a dehumidifier (I never have) or just buy a standalone dehumidifier, I'd still say use what we discussed earlier.

Stick to the portable A/C units with a dehumifier to ensure you are getting exactly what you want out of your cooling system.